September 21, 2008

The only downside to the game is that the box score doesn't reflect the magnitude of the beating.

When you look at all the individual match-ups that were won and lost, ASU only seemed to find one that they could attack. They went after Bryan Evans pretty hard. Beyond that, here are some thoughts:

Offensive Line - We had a non-starter at every position; yet, we put up 461 yards of total offense. I'm not really worried about the lack of a goal line push. We get Brannon Southerland back very shortly, and he'll cure our 3rd and 1 problems as a ball carrier and blocker.

Offensive Skill Positions - Given the youth up front, we had some occasional hole creation problems. The goal line situation when we were up 24-10 was a bit of a debacle. Otherwise, they got the job done. Oh yeah...and AJ Green = Holy Crap.

The Defense - Domination. The front four finally got some pressure, and the LB blitzes (which were happening more than folks wanted to admit before Sat...just not working) worked as well. If the run defense continues to hold up like this, we'll only face one passing game good enough to beat us without some semblance of balance.

Coaching - When UNLV beat ASU, I was worried that our guys would take them lightly. You could tell from the opening jump that Georgia was ready to play. I loved that we attacked ASU from the opening whistle. The long bomb is a low percentage play, but it showed Bobo immediately that ASU couldn't cover AJ. Late, some guys around me were bitching about the toss sweep call on 3rd and 1 that resulted in a fumble. One of our best offensive plays is the Toss Sweep and most of Moreno's best runs were off the Toss Sweep. I wasn't thrilled that we went for the FG on the goal line up 24-10, but it was the right call. It effectively ended the game. I don't think Richt makes that call in the 3rd quarter.

As for the penalties, I'm not a big conspiracy theory guy. I usually don't think that SEC refs (Penn Wagers aside) "have it out for Georgia" as much as they simply aren't very good at their jobs. Having said all that...if the Sun Devils needed a big play last night, there was a guy in stripes there to make it for them. I'm still in Tempe, and I haven't seen the replay yet. But it looked to me like the biggest calls of the night were questionable. More on that later.

Overall:Georgia has now won 11 games in a row. During that stretch, we have won 9 of the last 10 by ten or more points. To those that question whether or not the Bulldogs have been "dominating enough," chew on that last stat for a while.

BTW -- As for the commenters here and elsewhere that insist on posting "so and so sucks." We're ranked in the Top 3. Can you please take a deep breath before posting that stuff?

49
comments:

And we have the number 3 rush defense in the nation. (Though the 85th passing D).

Next weekend is one of those cases where something's gotta give.

UGA rush D: 3rd (45.8)Bama rush O: 14th (236.75)

Bama rush D: 8th (55.0)UGA rush O: 35th (189.25)

UGA pass D: 85th (229.25)Bama pass O: 105th (150.8)

Bama pass D: 47th (188.25)UGA pass O: 29th (260.8)

Athens is going to be a nut house next weekend. It was enough that looney Bama fans were coming to town, but throw in two unbeaten top 10 teams, a night game, and now Gameday and you have a recipe for a night game unlike any other in recent years.

Thank you Paul for the sanity at the end of your post. I appreciate constructive criticism and honest commentary - but the whining and whaling has taken on another level over the past few weeks.

We're undefeated, #3 in the nation, have the one of the nation's best QB's, RB's and MLB. AJ Green and Tavarres King may end up being the greatest WR combos we've ever seen and we're so deep at RB that there is a slight chance that our #3 TB (R. Samuel) should be moved to DEF where he could reek havoc like Thomas Davis.

Oh, and add to that that Gameday is coming this weekend for the UGA/Bama game and I'd say life is very, very good as a DAWG.

Not only were several of the calls against us questionable, but so were the non calls - the chop block against Jarius Wynn and the no-call on several facemasks in the second half against Knowshon stand out.

it was the sugar bowl crew, fwiw. Awful, awful officiating. I actually know one of the refs and am tempted to give him a piece of my mind. Our players could have been seriously injured on a few personal foul non calls

I agree that that FG late was the right call, but I still think Knowshon got in on 3rd down. I thought so last night live and through the replays and watched it again this morning several times confirming my belief. Either way, we dominated. Great game for the Dawgs! Let's keep it rolling against Bama this week!

Redcrake-Corso deserves what you may have to say, but please don't come off as the obnoxious dawg fan that caused a decade drought of Gameday appearances. Unfortunately, I've moved out of GA and this is the first season since I went to school that I cannot attend all the games (I decided before the season to come for the Tenn game, that's looking like a bad choice now). I will miss this gameday experience but maybe they'll come back next year. I cannot wait another 10.

"Corso deserves what you may have to say, but please don't come off as the obnoxious dawg fan that caused a decade drought of Gameday appearances."

...is what I am afraid of. As much as UGA fans/"fans" have been whining about ESPN lately it could get ugly. Hopefully not, but sometimes I don't have a lot of faith in UGA fans/"fans"...though more so the "fans".

Gameday crew cannot set up on top of Tate this year; too big of a set. And they won't be on the bridge. UGA has offered up the quads at either Reed or Myers Hall, but no word from espn on if they approve. They typically like the stadium in the background.

Excatly square. We can't bitch & moan about not getting enough love from espn only to act like a bunch of classless asshats when they show up for gameday. Can't have it both ways folks. I don't like corso either, but I want them to fall in love with uga. Like it or not, that shit matters.

squarebush-I'd like to say I've been a fan but I know at times i can be a "fan". However, I try to tunnel it towards people I believe are as obnoxious or more so than us. Florida, LSU, maybe Tenn. Never Auburn.

I hope the 'overserved frat boys' don't ruin Gameday's experience. I'd love to see them around next year. (Why did I choose this year to move??)

I say give the 'blackout' a rest and let the boys earn it like they did last year. Not saying I'm not proud of where we are right now but let's put a full-on ass whoopin' to one of our ranked SEC opponents then bring on the evil Richt! As Richt said we haven't put a full good game together just yet. Many improvements each week.

Anybody got any ideas where gameday will be setting up? Due to the construction, I could see them setting up in the quad between Reed, Memorial, and Milledge Hall right to the north of the stadium. Thoughts?

anon 4:30 - read through the comments. Someone's already posted where the options are for setting up gameday.

And, fyi, coach richt has already decided when the black jerseys will be pulled out. he said last week that has been decided for sometime now and they're keeping it a secret until the week of the game. My best guess is tennessee.

--Fullback Brannan Southerland is on the trip, but isn’t dressed out. Coach Mark Richt has said Southerland could serve as a personal punt protector next week and be back as a fullback against Tennessee. Having him on the sideline is a nice reward for the senior.

Okay, I'm pretty nervous about Bama next week. As we all know they are HOT right now, like we were at the end of last season. They really aren't making mistakes and definitely not racking up all the penalties we are. Last night was an improvement, but we've got a long way to go. Right?

RE: phantom penalty on WynnThe replay showed that the offensive player didn't come from behind (i.e. clip) and Wynn wasn't engaged with another player. I don't know all the exact rules about a chop block (ask somebody from GT or AU), but after the replay it looked fairly clean.

The OL is improving, but we face a really good D next week that has a monster DL (365 lbs), that we will have to stop so the skill players can shine.

Ernest @ 4:16...I don't think they were necessarily keying on every move, but rather, when your name is Knowshon, a Heisman contender, and the laws of gravity don't seem to apply, then there are probably 11 players always watching you out of the corner of their eye.

First of all, so and so sucks. He couldn't tackle, pass, or coach his way out of a paper sack if you cut the bottom out.

Second, though I'm without a rule book in my hand, I'm pretty sure a chop block is only legal within "the box" (and no that is not a euphemism for anything untoward). I would have to go back and watch the play to see whereabouts on the field it occurred, but that's why you see players get called for chop blocks downfield, on special teams, etc. And that play was a chop block way more than the tripping call was tripping.

Third, the NCAA needs standardized, universal officials instead of each conference having their own. There are so many judgment calls in football, and each conference seems to interpret certain rules differently. This creates a disadvantage for one team... usually the team that is not from the PAthetiC 10 whose officials universally suck. Like so and so.